rF t PVo *HA20I . 1890.A^ pr8,i r8, 185)2 Given By United States Census Office 3* 9! Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Boston Public Library http://www.archive.org/details/extracensusbulleOOunit Extra Census Bulletin. No. 2. WASHINGTON, D. c. April 20, 1891. DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION ACCORDING TO DENSITY: 1890. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Census Office, Washington, D. O, April 10, 1891. Sir: In the following tables and accompanying map, prepared by Mr. Henry Gannett, Geographer, special agent of the Census Office, are presented certain facts relating to the density of the rural as distinguished from the urban population of the country, and in the tables comparison is made with similar facts from other censuses. The method of preparing the map was as follows : The county was in general taken as the unit. Its population having been ascertained, the number of inhabitants in all cities of 8,000 inhabitants or more existing within it has been deducted therefrom, the location and population of such cities being represented upon the map by circles in heavy body color of area roughly proportional to the number of inhabitants. The rural population has then been divided by the area of the county in square miles, and the quotient accepted as the average density of settlement of the county in question. In cases, however, where the county is of unusual extent, as is the case with most counties in the Cordilleran region, northern Maine, etc., or where there was reason to believe that the different parts of the county differed decidedly in density of population, the county was not treated as a whole, but an approximation to the distribution of the population within it was obtained by the use of the town or township as the unit of computation, or by other less exact means, in case this was not practicable. The average density of each county or part of a county having thus been ascertained, the figures representing them were platted upon a county map of the United States and were grouped in accordance with the legend upon the map. The subdivisions are those in use in former censuses, viz : (0) Less than 2 inhabitants to a square mile. (Regarded as unsettled.) (1) 2 to 6 inhabitants to a square mile. (2) 6 to 18 inhabitants to a square mile. (3) 18 to 45 inhabitants to a square mile. (4) 45 to 90 inhabitants to a square mile. (5) More than 90 inhabitants to a square mile. These limits define in a general way the extent and prevalence of various classes of industries. The first group, 2 to (5 to a square mile, indicates a population mainly occupied with the grazing industry or a widely scattered farming population. The second group, 6 to 18, indicates a farming population, with systematic cultivation of the soil, but this either in an early stage of settlement or upon more or less rugged soil. The third group, 18 to 45 to a square mile, almost universally indicates a highly successful agriculture, while in some localities the beginnings of manufactures have raised into this group a difficult farming region. Speaking generally, agriculture in this country is not carried C. O. P.— 5m 2 DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION ACCORDING TO DENSITY: 1890. on with such care and refinement as yet to afford employment and support to a population in excess of 45 to a square mile ; consequently, the last two groups, 45 to 90 and 90 and above to a square mile, appear only as commerce and manufactures arise and personal and professional services are in demand. In reports of former censuses that portion of our domain which contains less than two inhabitants to a square mile has been regarded as unsettled territory, and throughout this discussion the same distinction will be observed. Upon the map the lines limiting the areas of different densities have not been left to follow strictly the boundary lines of counties, as would be required by a literal interpretation of the figures platted upon the map, but have been drawn in a more natural course, avoiding sharp angles and straight lines, but still in such a way as not to depart materially from the indications of the figures. In one noticeable respect the present map differs from the density maps of former censuses. This is, that care has been taken to avoid passing directly from one grade to another removed from it by two or three steps, for example, from grade 5 to grade 3. This has been done upon the assumption that, whatever the figures indicate, there must be a gradation in population as with contour lines, and hence the intermediate grades have been represented, even though it be in narrow bands, as more nearly approaching the truth. From the map and the records of past censuses the following table has been prepared, presenting the areas in square miles of different classes of settlement and the total settled area at the date of each census : AREAS IN SQUARE MILES OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF SETTLEMENT. Total area of settlement : 2 or more to the square mile. 1 3 3 4 5 YEARS. 2 to6 to the square mile. 6 to 18 to the square mile. 18 to 45 to the square mile. 45 to 90 to the square mile. 90 and over to the square mile. 1790 239,935 305,708 407,945 83,436 81,010 116,629 83,346 123,267 154,419 59,282 82,504 108,155 13,051 17,734 27,499 820 1800 1,193 1,243 1810 1820 5C8.717 140,827 177,153 150,390 39,004 1,343 1830 632,717 151,460 225,894 186,503 65,440 3,414 1840 807,292 183,607 291 ,819 241,587 84,451 5,828 1850 979,249 233,697 294,098 338,796 100,794 11,261 1860 1,194,754 260,866 353,341 431,601 134,722 14,224 1870 1,272,239 '245,897 303,475 470,529 174,036 18,302 < 1880 1,569,570 384,820 373,890 554,300 231,410 25,150 1890 1,947,285 592,037 393,943 701,845 235,148 24,312 It will be noted that the settled area has constantly and rapidly increased, but by no means at a uniform rate or at rates proportional to the increase of population. The following table shows the rates of increase of the settled area and of the population placed in juxtaposition : PER CENT OF INCREASE OF SETTLED AREA AND OF POPULATION. YEA.KS. Areas. Population. PER CENT OF INCREASE. Area. Population. 1790 239,935 305,708 407,945 508,717 632,717 807,292 979,249 1,194,754 1,272,239 1,569,570 1,917,285 3,929,214 5,308,483 7,239,881 9,633,822 12,866,020 17,069,453 23,191,876 31,443,321 38,558,371 50,155,783 02,622,250 1800 27.41 33.44 24.70 21.38 27.59 21.30 22.01 0.49 23.37 24.06 35.10 36.38 33.07 33.55 32.67 S5.87 35.58 22.63 30.08 24. 86' 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 In 1890 the population was nearly sixteen times as great as in 1790, while during the century the settled area was increased only about eightfold. In general, the increase of population has gone on at a much more rapid rate than that of settled area. DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION ACCORDING TO DENSITY: 1890. Notwithstanding the constant passage of territory from lower groups into higher by reason of increase in the number of inhabitants, the lower groups have been so rapidly increased by settlement of new territory that they have increased in every case, excepting that in 1870 a slight diminution is noted in group 1. In 1890 a trifling reduction is seen in the highest group. This is doubtless an indirect result of the rapid development of cities in the territory falling into this group, as each city, upon reaching a j)opulation of 8,000, is subtracted from the population of its county, thereby materially reducing the apparent density of the population of the county. To a certain extent the case is similar in the next group, that of 45 to 90 inhabitants to a scpiare mile, which during the past decade increased in area but 3,738 square miles. During this period the inroads upon the unsettled region have been unprecedented in amount, not less than 377,715 square miles having been redeemed, exceeding by 80,384 square miles the area settled between 1870 and 1880. The following table shows the proportion of the area of each group of population to the total area of settlement at each census : YEARS. 1 2 3 4 S 1790 1S0O 1810 348 265 286 277 239 228 239 218 193 245 304 348 403 379 348 357 361 301 296 286 238 202 247 270 265 296 295 299 346 361 370 353 361 54 58 67 76 103 105 103 113 137 148 121 3 4 3 3 6 7 11 12 14 16 12 1820 1830 1840 1850 I860 1870 1880 1890 The most striking fact which appears upon a study of the map is the numerous additions which have been made to the settled area within the Cordilleran region. Settlements have spread westward up the slope of the plains until they have joined the bodies formerly isolated in Colorado, forming a continuous body of settlement from the east to the Kocky mountains. Practically the whole of Kansas has become a settled region, and the unsettled area of Nebraska has been reduced in dimensions-to a third of what it was ten years ago. What was a sparsely-settled region in Texas in 1880 is now the most populous part of the state, while settlements have spread westward to the escarpment of the Staked Plains. The unsettled regions of the Dakotas have been reduced to half their former dimensions. Settlements in Montana have spread until they now occupy one-third of the state. In New Mexico, Idaho, and Wyoming considerable extensions of area are to be noted. In Colorado, in spite of the decline of the mining fever and the depopulation of its mining regions, settlement has spread, and two-thirds of the state is now under the dominion of man. Oregon and Washington show equally rapid progress, and California, although its mining regions have suffered, has made great inroads upon its unsettled regions, especially in the south. Of all the western states and territories Nevada alone is at a standstill in this respect, its settled area remaining practically the same as in 1880. When it is remembered that the state has lost one-third of its population during the past ten years, the fact that it has held its own in settled area is surprising until it is understood that the state has undergone a material change in occupations during the decade, and that the inhabitants, instead of being closely grouped together and engaged in mining pursuits, have become scattered along its streams and have engaged in agriculture. Turning now to the east, it is seen that settlement is spreading with some rapidity in Maine, its unsettled area having dwindled from 12,000 down to about 4,000 square miles. The unsettled portion of the Adirondack region in New York has also diminished, there being now but 1,000 square miles remaining unsettled. The frontier has been pushed still farther southward in Florida, and the unsettled area has been reduced from 20,800 to 13,000 square miles. The lumbering and mining interests of Michigan have practically obliterated its wilderness and have reduced that of Wisconsin to one-half of its former area. In Minnesota the area of its wild northern forests have been reduced from 34,000 to 23,000 square miles. 4 DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION ACCORDING TO DENSITY : 1890. The following table presents in detailed form, by states, the extent of settled area and the area in each of the density groups : AREAS IN SQUARE MILES OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF SETTLEMENT IN 1890, BY STATES. Total area 2 to 6 STATES AND TERRITORIES. of to the square settlement. • mile. Alabama ... Arizona Arkansas... California .. Colorado ... Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia.. Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts.. Michigan Minnesota. Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire.. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina.. North Dakota.... Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania.... Rhode Island South Carolina.. South Dakota.... Tennessee.. Texas Utah Vermont.... Virginia "Washington West Virginia- Wisconsin Wyoming 51,540 24,645 53,045 06,604 68,492 4,845 1,960 65 41 ,070 58,980 39,143 56,000 .35,910 55,475 80,971 40,000 45.420 25J29 9,860 8,040 57,430 56,259 46,340 68,735 46,796 63,061 11,948 8,828 7,455 45,589 46,580 48,580 26,973 40,760 2,890 46,189 44,985 1,085 30,170 43,848 41,750 150.810 27,580 9,135 40,125 36,945 24,645 51,148 22,852 24,645 57,657 57,810 6 to 18 18 to 45 45 to 90 to the square to the square to the square mile. mile. mile. 393,943 12,349 9,871 45,941 26,801 10,022 35,625 1,427 "i'7,835 39,124 59,755 20,421 22,202 8,410 22,852 9,472 701,845 235,148 37,717 23,212 2S,716 9,439 29,833 10,181 1,243 18,688 1,166 37,233 20,451 16,153 1,910 4,246 24,920 22,493 1,643 7,608 9,624 18,490 6,596 1,931 .. 35,040 : 13,651 25,766 10,007 14,892 855 17,040 1,208 886 41,890 12,484 50,167 32,449 25,149 18,319 6,703 2,900 959 16,844 20,622 35,502 52,765 19,220 718 5,245 1,550 1,887 6,313 9,138 5,018 23,150 4,114 40,313 5,701 730 3,109 13,461 9,190 14,360 13,172 38,060 1,616 2,890 2,047 10,617 23,500 1,355 24,985 50,742 1,458 7,487 29,895 1,282 11 ,706 20,672 4,351 4,072 1,150 6,621 Above 90 to the square mile. 14,110 23,426 1,062 1,109 12,491 816 2,806 6,123 4,149 13,800 831 1,030 1,989 3,055 28,200 4,207 3,689 7,302 24,312 773 65 717 187 837 2,932 780 2,850 1,828 37,744 1,400 23,092 320 6,241 10,676 765 12,651 918 7,121 Up to and including 1880 the country had a frontier of settlement, but at present the unsettled area has been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line. In the discussion of its extent, its westward movement, etc., it can not, therefore, any longer have a place in the census reports. Very respectfully, The Secretary of the Interior. ROBERT P. PORTER, Superintendent of Census. ELEVENTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES ROBERT P. PORTER, SUPERINTEN DENT EXTRA BULLETIN No. 2 MAP SHOWING,INSIXDEGREES OFDENSITY.THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES attheEleventh Census (1890) Compiled by. HENRY GANNETT, Geographer. m" Q-J° en" aa° «T° R?;c ;05&f»feA 75" JULIUS BIEH& CO. UTH.N-Y.